Refresh Your Greek to Solve a Puzzle

I invented this puzzle. It’s a variation of something I saw on Facebook.

Puzzle. The future dinner of an anthropophagusphagusphagus met for dinner the past study object of an anthropophaguslogist. What’s for dinner?


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7 Comments

  1. Carl Feynman:

    A cannibal. I noted during my SAT prep that anthropophagous is to cannibalistic as autochthonous is to indigenous.

  2. Andrew:

    Greek, not Latin:)

  3. tanyakh:

    Oops. Thanks Andrew, I changed it.

  4. Ivan:

    What’s for dinner? The meat of the meetee. Who will (m)eat it? The meeter.

  5. George R.:

    I am Greek. Anthropophagus means “the man who eats men” Ανθρωποφάγος from άνθρωπος(=man/human) + φάγος (fagos) (=ending for “to eat”)
    So, an anthropophagusphagus is someone who eats the man-eater namely someone who eats the cannibal. Thus an anthropophagusphagusphagus is someone who eats the cannibal-eater. So his future dinner is a cannibal-eater. So , a cannibal-eater met for dinner a cannibal ( who is the object of study of an anthropophaguslogist (someone who studies anthropophaguses =cannibals)
    So indeed the dinner is the cannibal himself.
    What confuses me a little is the term “past” study object… why is “past” necessary? Just to show that the cannibal is dead , and thus an “easy” meal? 😊

  6. tanyakh:

    Goerge, your are right. “Past” is not necessary. It just balances out the word “future”.

  7. George R.:

    Well Tanya, after all maybe “past” is indeed necessary ( in order to have a unique answer: Cannibal)
    Otherwise two cannibals meet for dinner. An antrhopophagusphagus^n is also a cannibal after all!
    So ,if 2 cannibals meet for dinner we could assume multiple “solutions” for what’s for dinner! 🙂
    “Nothing”, or “the weakest cannibal”, or maybe something else (?)

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